The new pickleball court in Boothbay Harbor is a smash hit as nearly two dozen players convene twice a week for a game or two, or eight. The new court is a local home to what the United States Pickleball Association calls the fastest growing sport in the world. Local residents lobbied Boothbay Harbor officials to create pickleball courts five years ago at the former tennis court location. 

Boothbay Harbor responded by building an outdoor basketball and adjacent pickleball court. So far, the public has flocked to the new court and even used a bit of ingenuity in creating a couple more temporary ones. On Tuesday and Thursday mornings, year round and seasonal residents congregate on four courts at the intersection of Emery Lane and Townsend Avenue for recreation and socializing. Jan Denslow is a New York native who splits her time between Palm Harbor, Florida and Boothbay Harbor. Like many of her fellow pickleballers, she learned the game at the local YMCA. She has played the game for seven years and believes the new outdoor courts enable players to enjoy the outdoors as well as a good game. “Everybody here is so nice and friendly. No one here is trying to ‘kill you’ like indoors. It’s a little more competitive indoors because they hit the ball a lot harder,” she said. “I enjoy pickleball because it’s a lot easier on the arms and legs, and I really enjoy the people.”

In Boothbay Harbor, pickleball is played five days a week. Monday, Wednesday and Saturday, the local Y hosts indoor games. And, for the past two years, the game has ventured outside due to the advent of an outdoor court. Jill Albaum, 68, is another seasonal resident playing pickleball. She lives in Boynton Beach, Florida in the winter and in Boothbay Harbor in the summer. Her family dates back six generations to living in the Boothbay region. She started playing pickleball in 2014 as discussions about constructing an outdoor Boothbay Harbor court began. 

“I was in on it five years ago,” Albaum said. “I went to meetings and asked what the town was going to do with the property in hopes they’d build a pickleball court.” Albaum and her fellow lobbyists' work paid off with the courts being constructed last year and lines painted this spring. For Albaum, pickleball provides her with a sport similar to tennis and racquetball, but less taxing on the body. “I wanted to exercise and a friend told me about pickleball. I tried it and enjoyed it,” she said.

In 2015, a Sports & Fitness Industry Association report found almost 2.5 million people played pickleball. As the sport continues to grow, it brings the question: Why is the game three fathers in Washington State invented in 1965, to provide an activity for their children, now rising in popularity? For local participants, the game is a perfect combination of physical activity and socializing. 

Last year, the summer outdoor group drew about 16 people. Now the games are drawing about 24 to each bi-weekly session, according to Merritt Blakeslee of Boothbay Harbor. Blakeslee has played several racket sports including tennis and racquetball. Those games require a great deal of footspeed, whereas pickleball requires quick eye-hand coordination. “You need to be careful in how you describe the speed in each sport. Pickleball is fast in a different way. Those volley to volley exchanges are as fast as anything I’ve played,” he said. 

So a combination of competition, exercise and socializing has made for a perfect combination for the game to flourish in Boothbay Harbor and around the country. In Boothbay Harbor, the new courts see a steady stream of regular players. “It’s a diverse group who enjoys playing the game and the social aspect. I haven’t seen this type of social interaction in any of the other sports I’ve played,” Blakeslee said. 

Like tennis, the game can be played with a team of one or two. Scoring is like table tennis in which a point is scored only on the serve. A contest is typically decided when a team scores 11 points with a two-point margin. But due to an abundance of players, games in Boothbay Harbor are shortened to nine points. Local players also credited the game’s expansion locally to the Boothbay Region YMCA. The Y hosts a beginners class and expanded its indoor pickleball courts this winter.